Deathbeds and Laptops
by Tapangwa
Summary: Just after his enemy dies, Zim discovers there was more to Dib than he thought. ZADR


Tapan: one shot! And a sad one.

Torna: I didn't know you were even capable of writing something depressing.

Jhkitty: I'm actually a little impressed. And scared.

Tapan: -.- thanks guys. This was inspired by the series finally of Six Feet Under. That was a great ending.

Torna: yeah, it was.

Jhkitty: and there's finally something we all agree on

Disclaimer: I don't own Invader Zim. Just the computer I use to type these fanfics, and a pair of IZ fuzzy dice that are hanging in my car, so shh.

Warning: slash, ZADR, death fic. It's somewhat depressing, very out of what I usually write. Flame if you wish.

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The room was dark, despite the cloudless day outside. The undisguised alien opened the window to the small room and slipped through carefully, observing the dying man in the bed. There he was.

His greatest enemy. The man he vowed to terminate with his own two hands, on his deathbed.

Dib looked absolutely sickly, his frail chest heaving as he labored each and every breath. His once youthful face, covered in wrinkles from the aging process of the human. His hair was perfectly white, a big change from the jet black it was when he was young. He looked almost exactly like the aged version Zim created when he was playing the boy's life, all those years ago.

Quietly, the small invader stepped closer to the bed. _So this is what death is like._ It had never occured to Zim to simply allow the Dib to grow old and die. He scorned himself for not thinking of it sooner. Such a brilliantly simple plan.

He himself stayed his original petite size, only growing an inch or so if that. Despite the fact that, by human standards, he was ancient, he still looked like a child, but of course didn't bother with skool anymore. He learned all there was to know from that hellish place, after all.

He froze as he saw those honey brown eyes on him. They looked tired, he looked tired. But something confused the irken.

He also looked relieved.

"Zim." The man's voice was frail and weak, a perfect match with his body. It lacked the malice and hatred it once carried. It sounded almost loving.

The alien blinked at the foreign tones. He came to make sure Dib was really dying, he came to dance on the paranormalist's grave, and yet.

He was happy to see him?

He tried to pass the tone as his imagination. Years of living on this dirt ball of a planet playing tricks on his mind. That was until he looked up again to see Dib smiling.

Not really knowing what else to do, Zim climbed on the bed and sat Indian style by Dib's blanket covered thigh and observed the man. He had never seen death due to old age, he did know it existed, however.

In fact, it had been Dib that introduced him to it. The first time very long ago, under one of the rare instances they had to work together Zim questioned the boy about the way humans die. Of course, Dib was a little skeptical at first about explaining such a thing, but found no harm could be done.

The second time he heard of it was Membrane's funeral. Zim was there, simply to observe, not to comfort the scientist's spawns or to mourn the man's death. He stood in the corner and watched intently, a great deal of the time his attention was draw to Dib and Gaz.

Both fully grown at the time, Dib stood perfectly silent throughout the whole thing, only speaking if it was to thank someone for coming. His eyes held no emotion, as if he didn't know what to feel. Gaz, however, was an emotional wreck. Zim had never seen the girl cry before that day. He didn't think such a woman would be capable of any emotion besides anger, but there she sat, sobbing to the point where it could only hurt. Neither of the siblings acknowledged the alien's presence, but it didn't matter. They were mourning after all.

After that, Gaz disappeared. Whether she died or just ran off somewhere, Zim didn't know, and he really didn't care one way or the other.

The irken snapped himself back to reality and looked back at Dib. The man was no longer looking at him, but off to the side at the night table near his bed. On it sat a lone "get well" card and the human's glasses. Dib was blind without them by now, Zim was sure of that much.

It's a bit odd that someone with naturally blurred vision was the only one that could, or cared to, see the truth about his existence.

The irken snorted at the bitter irony, snapping Dib back to reality as well. He looked back over at Zim and smiled once again, bringing a frail hand up to touch the irken.

Zim was hesitant at fist, until the hand actually touched him, petting his antenna lightly. His eyes lulled closed and he leaned his head to the hand subconsciously, much like a puppy would do to a friendly hand.

He didn't know how long he sat there, allowing the human to pet him but, even though he didn't want to admit it, when it ended, it ended too soon. Eventually, the hand stopped and went limp. His eyes opened just in time to see Dib's were close; the smile didn't fade from his face as the life left those brown orbs. He knew they'd never open again, as the breath remaining in his thin frail form released itself Zim took the hand from where it fell and placed it on the human's chest before standing up.

He looked back at the body as he jumped off the bed, idly wondering if the man left a will. If he had, the irken wouldn't be surprised if written on it was "I leave the world to Zim." After all, he did. He was truly the Earth's sole defender.

If only they listened to the ranting boy.

If only they followed him and heed his warning.

If only…

It didn't matter anymore; the planet didn't deserve a savior. It never felt it needed a hero, so they pushed the human to the side, called him crazy. While, in fact, he was one of the most intelligent being's on this dirt ball.

Dib was alone in this world, cast aside because of his intelligence.

The probably wouldn't ever find his body until he owed a large sum of money for taxes or something.

Zim tore his eyes away from the bed and looked around the room, spotting the laptop on a far table. It waited so expectantly, waiting for its master to come back and use it.

He walked over to it and picked it up, clutching it close to his small chest as he turned back to his departed enemy, making a mental note to bring something to carry the body in so he could cremate it.

The boy deserved it; he put up a good fight until the end.

Maybe he'd even toss the ashes somewhere, half on Earth, half in space.

He blinked at the bed before backing up, opening the door and walking out into the sun.

It was truly a beautiful day; it couldn't contrast the melancholy mood any better. For a moment, Zim wished it were raining, at least the pain would keep him from his thoughts on the Dib.

The touch confused him. His gloved hand reached up and touched where the human's hand was moments before. He could still feel the fingers on his antennae, ghosting around them so gently.

Zim shook the thought from his head and continued on his way, laptop still in his arms. He didn't bother donning a disguise, knowing nobody noticed him most likely passing it off as a costume. Even if one of the human's saw him as an alien, it didn't matter.

He walked into his base and didn't waste any time, plopping down on the couch and opening the laptop. GIR was nowhere to be seen; the invader didn't care at the moment. The robot would appear at some random time, but for now, Zim took advantage of the peace.

The small computer loaded slowly, being outdated and such, but eventually it opened to show it being password protected, which the irken quickly got around in order to get into the computer itself.

After a while of searching he found nothing too interesting; a few old photos of himself and things the boy discovered about the irken race. He was about to close and shut the computer down.

Until one particular file caught his eye.

It was a small document labeled simply "to Zim." Red eyes looked at it curiously before moving the mouse over and clicking on it.

Instantly, the document popped up, and the irken was surprised to find it was a letter to him. He blinked and began to read it:

"Zim,

"If I know you as well as I think, you took my laptop as soon as you saw I was dead. Not that it matters, I don't need it! But at least this may give what we had a bit of closure. Over the years, as you know, we were nothing but enemies, never really seeing eye to eye on, well anything! And that was always how it worked. It was simple, it was rational, and it was predictable.

"It was us.

"But after a while, it turned into something. Something more than just enemies, or at least, that's what I wanted. I didn't make any sense to me, but hey! Pathetic human emotions, right? They weren't kidding when they said there was a thin line between love and hate.

"Yes, you read that right. I was in love with you, Zim."

Zim blinked. Suddenly, things the human did to him, or didn't do, started to make sense. He continued to read.

"I would just like to take this opportunity to apologize for my feelings. It probably caught you by surprise. I wish I had the gall to tell you this while I was alive, but I guess I'm a coward.

"Hopefully, I'll see you again before I die. And maybe, if you irkens believe in this type of stuff, I'll see you on the other side. And maybe, just maybe, things could be different between us, we could start from scratch. After all, I don't have a planet to protect, and you won't have one to conquer.

"But I guess that's just wishful thinking.

"Well, I'm going to end this sappy letter now. After all, you have a planet to destroy, don't you?

"I guess I'll see you around, Space boy.

"Dib."

Zim couldn't believe what he just read. Did the human really just say all of that? Dib just confessed his love to Zim and then, quite literally, gave him the world?

Zim closed the document calmly and shut the computer off. Strangely, he lost any desire to take over the planet, as if his craving for power died along with Dib.

Putting the computer on the cushion next to him, he slid off the couch and strolled down to his lab to find a transportation unit for Dib. Despite the confession, Zim was still going to cremate the human. After all, the irken rarely changed his mind.

Maybe after he got rid of Dib's body, he would just leave the planet, tell the tallest to give the mission to someone else and just disappear. He could fake his own death.

Yes, he would do that. After he gets rid of the human's body, he'll just "die" and then wander space.

GIR could stay on the Earth; after all, the robot enjoyed it so much.

Maybe, one day, Zim would return to the old rock. Maybe.

But, of course, maybe doesn't mean yes.

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Tapan: well that's it. For anyone who's curious, I listened to Breath me by Sia as I wrote this. Great song, in fact it was used at the end if Six Feet Under. Anyway, that's all. R & R! 


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